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The Minnesota Lynx open up their 15th season at Target Center Saturday night against the Connecticut Sun. The squad is gunning for their 3rd consecutive Western Conference crown and looking to erase the bad memories of last fall’s Finals loss to Indiana.

On a roster loaded with talent and in league not known for player movement, there are four new faces on this year’s team; former Gophers star Janel McCarville and rookies Lindsey Moore, Sugar Rodgers and Rachael Jarry.

Moore, a point guard, was chosen by the Lynx in the first round (12th overall) out of Nebraska. Expected to provide some depth behind Lindsay Whalen and plug the back court hole left by Candice Wiggin’s departure, Moore earned All American honors for the Cornhuskers in 2013.

The Washington native chatted with me after Friday’s practice, the eve of her first WNBA game.

DZ: You’ve been through training camp, the preseason and now the regular season is coming up. What is your mindset, how are you taking it all in?

MOORE: Just being consistent is the biggest thing. Being a rookie, I think I just need to be consistent. That’s what I have been trying to bring everyday through training camp and hopefully, through the regular season.

DZ: With the first regular season game tomorrow, do you have any jitters; do you think you will sleep well tonight?

MOORE: I think I will sleep well. I am not really nervous right now, but I think tomorrow I definitely will have some jitters.

DZ: Going back to draft day, what were you thinking going in? Did you have any idea who was going to take you and where?

MOORE: I didn’t know anything at all. It’s funny because (assistant) Coach Shelley (Patterson) was trying to get a hold of me and she had the wrong number, so I didn’t talk to Minnesota at all. I was kind of shocked when Minnesota had their pick and chose me. I thought it was out of leftfield because I hadn’t heard anything from them.

DZ: Did many teams talk to you?

MOORE: A couple. I had San Antonio and Indiana that was basically it. I hadn’t heard anything from Minnesota at all.

DZ: How much did it mean to go in the first round, rather than wait until the second?

MOORE: It was nice just to find out earlier where I was going to end up going. The wait was probably the worst thing about the draft; just not knowing where…you’d end up going. It was a fun experience, it was cool to get to meet the other players, usually you just see them on the court.

DZ: Obviously your name is Lindsey Moore and there’s a famous Lindsay here and a famous Moore here, have the veterans come up with any nicknames for you?

MOORE: Yeah, I think the one that’s been sticking is L-Mo: “L” for “Lindsey” and “Mo” for “Moore”. They took the L and Mo and put them together, so that’s basically what the team is calling me.

DZ: You’ve gotten used to that already?

MOORE: Yeah, it’s not bad.

DZ: One last thing, your number – 00 – I saw you wore it in college (too), is there any story behind that?

MOORE: I started wearing it in college because there was a girl that had my number that I wanted from high school – No. 5. So, I changed to 00 because my last name has two Os in it, so I just figured I would kind of play on that and use that. Ever since then, it’s really stuck with me.